My friends account got perma-banned for basically screwing around in BG's in June 2010 when they introduced the 'report AFK' feature.

He was having internet problems and kept get disconnecting in BG's, and they deemed him to be 'duping' the system by only attacking someone every few minutes to remove the 60 seconds inactive debuff.

He got a 3 hour/24 hour / 72 hour ban in the space of 2 weeks, in some cases when he'd only play a single BG and everyone would and he'd get autobanned report him. Because at that time the report AFK system was new future, and everyone was using it on everyone who was even standing still...

He's appealed around 3 times, and he's never been given a proper reason to why he actually got perma-banned, around 90% of people in BGs just screw around nowadays or bot anyway and he actually never broke any rules.

The appeal system works perfectly fine in 99% of cases though, if you look on a certain botting forum, nearly everyone who gets banned for botting gets a 72 hour ban; then if they get perma-banned they nearly always successfully appeal it.

It takes quite a lot to get an account banned permanently.. There are usually different strikes with short term bans from a few hours to a few days before the ultimate ban hammer hits. So nope..... Perma ban should remain perma ban.
You willingly broke the rules, and did so severely.
There are cases where someone would argue "I did not know", but had you used common sense, you could have figured it out.

"The pen is mightier than the sword.. and considerably easier to write with."

Actually, most permabans are zero tolerance situations. They're much more common than 3-4 time offenders.

Actually no. I'm risking a ban by saying this but I'm fed up with the misinformation: you are a fucking idiot and this entire thread is built around gathering support for allowing cheaters to be unbanned and you are trying to accomplish it by spreading misinformation. Look up the penalty volcano and just look at the customer support forums in general. Bans don't happen for no reason and upon appeals they get overturned if need be. I'm sorry you cheated I'm sorry you think you should be above the rules but no, you don't get a do over.

Mods I highly suggest you lock this thread because it is going nowhere good and it is only going to spread dissent which I think is the OP's main goal here.

My friends account got perma-banned for basically screwing around in BG's in June 2010 when they introduced the 'report AFK' feature.

He was having internet problems and kept get disconnecting in BG's, and they deemed him to be 'duping' the system by only attacking someone every few minutes to remove the 60 seconds inactive debuff.

He got a 3 hour/24 hour / 72 hour ban in the space of 2 weeks, in some cases when he'd only play a single BG and everyone would and he'd get autobanned report him. Because at that time the report AFK system was new future, and everyone was using it on everyone who was even standing still...

He's appealed around 3 times, and he's never been given a proper reason to why he actually got perma-banned, around 90% of people in BGs just screw around nowadays or bot anyway and he actually never broke any rules.

The appeal system works perfectly fine in 99% of cases though, if you look on a certain botting forum, nearly everyone who gets banned for botting gets a 72 hour ban; then if they get perma-banned they nearly always successfully appeal it.

It sucks for your friend, but it's his very own fault.
If you experience such technical problems then you can just stay away from it...

But actually, I don't buy the story.. Blizzard could simply look into the logs. Someone logging out (getting disconnected is about the same thing) is recorded in the logs, and they would see the pattern very easily.

"The pen is mightier than the sword.. and considerably easier to write with."

My friends account got perma-banned for basically screwing around in BG's in June 2010 when they introduced the 'report AFK' feature.

He was having internet problems and kept get disconnecting in BG's, and they deemed him to be 'duping' the system by only attacking someone every few minutes to remove the 60 seconds inactive debuff.

He got a 3 hour/24 hour / 72 hour ban in the space of 2 weeks, in some cases when he'd only play a single BG and everyone would and he'd get autobanned report him. Because at that time the report AFK system was new future, and everyone was using it on everyone who was even standing still...

He's appealed around 3 times, and he's never been given a proper reason to why he actually got perma-banned, around 90% of people in BGs just screw around nowadays or bot anyway and he actually never broke any rules.

The appeal system works perfectly fine in 99% of cases though, if you look on a certain botting forum, nearly everyone who gets banned for botting gets a 72 hour ban; then if they get perma-banned they nearly always successfully appeal it.

Report AFK has been in the games since at least mid 2007. Most people just did not know about it, and back then, there was no debuff to tell players they had been reported.

No, Blizzard shouldn't allow account amnesty. Being banned is a punishment. Getting suspended is more of a severe warning. "Hey, take a few days and knock it off, 'cause you're gonna get your shit closed."

"So my advice is to argue based on the reasons stated, not try to make up or guess at reasons and argue those."
Greg Street, Riot Developer - 12:50 PM - 25 May 2015

If someone was banned for breaking the rules, which are very few, why should they be allowed back, they have already shown they are untrustworthy. Blizz has problems enough with current rule breakers, why let the cheaters back?

I wouldn't exactly call waiting a year 'getting an account back any time'

And, obviously, I imagine the amnesty system could only be used once per battle.net account.

Botting and gold selling is a multiBILLION dollar industry. If you think they won't take advantage of this then I have to question your entire understanding of not only Blizzard policies but how people exploit mmos in general. Your idea funds the botters and gold sellers and protects NO ONE.

---------- Post added 2013-05-01 at 07:35 AM ----------

Originally Posted by catbeef

everyone giving a flat out no are the people who believe every single person found guilty in a court of law actually committed the crime.

everyone makes mistakes, including the justice disher-outers, detectives, investigators, etc. it is part of being human.

If Blizzard doesn't have proper evidence to ban players they will overturn bans. Period. End of story. Again check out the customer support forums because that proves what I'm saying. As far as mistakes go it takes a special kind of idiot to blatantly cheat at a game and wonder why he got banned. No I'm sorry but I don't buy the whole "people who get perm bans didn't know they were doing something wrong" thing.

Even after all the clarifications, IF you did something that got the account banned then there is no reason for you to get it back. Stop breaking the rules and stop getting your account banned in the first place.

From the way you keep harping on others who disagree with you, it seems you must have had an account perma-banned. Well, that is the penalty for not following the rules. You lost the account, why should they give it back to you at a later date? It wasn't their fault you could not follow the simple rules they laid out in the ToU and EULA.

And actually he does have a perm banned account. Thank you for pointing this out. The OP has a vested interest in getting this pushed through.

---------- Post added 2013-05-01 at 07:40 AM ----------

Originally Posted by chazus

I'm curious. Why would a gold farmer/botter, who has not done either of that on a new account for a year+, suddenly start doing that again on the old amnesty account? The people who broke the rules would -already- be back in the game. If they were planning on doing bad things, they'd already be doing it. Not waiting for an old account to use.

Do you seriously not understand this is a very profitable industry? I'm sorry at this point I have to say what I think but you are a fucking idiot.

If Blizzard doesn't have proper evidence to ban players they will overturn bans. Period. End of story. Again check out the customer support forums because that proves what I'm saying. As far as mistakes go it takes a special kind of idiot to blatantly cheat at a game and wonder why he got banned. No I'm sorry but I don't buy the whole "people who get perm bans didn't know they were doing something wrong" thing.

I wonder why you are accusing other people from spreading misinformation, while what you say above is proven to be wrong. Loads of bans are NOT being overturned, even when players provide proof Blizzard is wrong. And by the way, maybe learn to discuss instead of saying everybody else is wrong and you are right...

Blizzard would never go for this. They try very hard to look as though they take a very strict stance on these sorts of things (regardless of how good or bad they actually are at this is irrelevant -- the intent is more than clear when they do something like post about the win trading situation and such). Simply stating "We have a new system in place to allow people to recover banned accounts" shows a degree of tolerance towards behavior that can get you banned.

Suggesting that allowing this would make them money is highly suspect to me. You're much more likely to needlessly anger your legit players for absolutely no practical game. I don't always like Blizzard's WoW related decisions but they have a stronger business sense than to think that going this route would be a good long term plan.

I will eat, sleep, and breathe Dark Souls 3.
Add me on the PSN for jolly-cooperation @ PuppetShoJustice

Accounts are rarely banned permanently for their first offense - and when they are, it is something severe indeed that causes it.
I have no sympathy for either case - whether you did something really bad, and got banned permanently, or did a bunch of small stuff that lead up to you being banned permanently.

The argument that it would generate revenue for Blizzard, while true, neglects the important flip side: if you are banned, and you can have that ban lifted, surely that might ruffle someone's feathers -- someone who may not have any negative flags on their account.

Let's say for example, a person was banned for continued harassment. The subject of this harassment is still playing, and enjoying their time. Suddenly, they see a name from a year ago, and think, "Hm. That guy was banned before - or should have been, at least. I guess Blizzard only cares about the bottom line, so I think I'll take my business elsewhere."

Blizzard has a responsibility to its customers - and moreover, its good customers. I'm not saying a person who was banned has money of a different colour, nor am I saying they can't change their ways -- but they can't trample their current customers in order to get that money. I know that I, for one - a person with a 7 year-old account that has been in perfect standing since the day I created it - would stop subscribing if they ever allowed this shit to happen.

It would be a very poor business move.

Add to it the headaches that it would cause for their support team. Basically, OP, you have listed a very specific set of circumstances in which such 'amnesty' would be offered (primarily to make yourself sound like a good candidate for such a system, no doubt.) Now, while the solution is tailor-made for you, it may not be for everyone else. You'll have people who may not fall into one or more of the criteria, but think they do. Or people whose criteria-matching may be a sort of grey area. Ultimately, all I see from that situation is even more whining on the forums (as if that would be possible!)

Finally, you have to realize that a permanent ban is often the only reason some players will not risk certain behaviours. Just like real life laws are the only reason some people won't do something, people - particularly young people, of which WoW is chock full - need rules to follow, to stay within the confines of acceptable behaviour. If they know that the ban is never actually permanent - that they can get it back some day, if they play nice on another account (while having a third account to stay up to their usual hi-jinks), then the deterrence factor is reduced, and it would decrease the quality of play all around. Suddenly, you would see people doing a lot of shit they'd never do before, knowing the worst that could happen is that they'd be given a little break from the game.

The long and short of it is, if Blizzard decides to terminate their business with you by banning your account, you should never get it back. This is not to say that you shouldn't have the opportunity to argue your case, or to clarify a situation that may be misunderstood - but once they decide, finally, that they don't want you back - your only option is, and should only ever be, to start fresh, and learn from your mistakes.

For WINE user accounts that were banned it seems like blizzard might explore some way to reinstate those accounts based on this information from the Warden wikipedia page:

"Warden currently detects whether it is running under Wine so it can modify its behavior slightly, though it remains fully functional."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warden_(software)

Sounds like blizzard has fixed a deficiency of the software and, given that, perhaps contacting people who's accounts were banned for using WINE to see if they are interested in having their accounts reactivated.

This would only apply to accounts banned only for WINE use before Warden could work effectively in that environment.

I'm really surprised at the amount of people who don't agree with this idea.

MMOC works this very way. Bans start small and slowly add up. You can get permabanned but people have returned from that by demonstrating they're willing to follow the rules. Even our system allows for that without permabans...if you start behaving your infractions expire and you chance of being banned drops.

I'd like to see something like this added into the system. I'd like to see people who have made mistakes, who have been children or immature, learn from those and become good members of the community. There is no reason to throw anyone away for good.